Disease and Chaos
by Gametime99
Summary: When Tails learns that he has a terminal illness and only has three months left to live, he begins to try to create a cure himself while getting his affairs together... until a cure reveals itself in Shadow's blood. But, as they say, the cure is often worse than the disease...


**Welcome to my new story. This little project is co-authored by my good friend, Manias 3.0. Well, let's begin.**

**...**

It was about a year after the destruction of the Death Egg. Two heroes, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Sonic the Hedgehog, were laying on the grass of Green Hill Zone gazing at the clouds. Tails glanced over at Sonic and asked, "Hey, Sonic?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"When do you think you'll get another call for help?" Tails knew that Sonic was always saving the planet in some way or another, and that was why Sonic was always on the run.

Sonic thought about this question for a moment. Then he said, "To be honest, Tails, I don't really know. If anything, I could be called to save a cat in a tree in five minutes. But, no matter how hard the job is, I want you to promise me one thing."

"Yeah?"

"I want you to promise to stay strong, no matter how tough the situation might be. You promise?" Sonic stuck out his hand for Tails to shake. Tails grinned and said with warmth, "I promise." With that, they shook hands, and gazed back up at the clouds. Tails giggled a bit and pointed to a cloud. "That one kind of looks like Amy's mallet."

Sonic shivered. He hadn't seen Amy Rose in the past year since he had been gone. A twinge of guilt passed through him as he remembered the spunky pink hedgehog. He decided to give her a call, so he pulled out his wrist communicator and dialed her number. But, to his dismay, he only got her voicemail. _Hi, you have reached the voice mailbox of me, Amy Rose. I'm sorry I can't take your call at the moment. But if you leave a message, I'll be sure to call you back. Thanks a bunch!_ *BEEP!*

Sonic sighed and began. "Hi, Ames. It's Sonic. I know I've been neglecting to call you lately, and I'm REALLY sorry about that. But, I'm in the neighborhood if you want to, like, meet me at a chilli-dog joint. Okay? Call me back. Bye." As soon as Sonic hung up, Tails and he stood up and stretched. Tails turned to Sonic. "Well, I'm heading back home, Sonic. Call me if you need me."

"You bet! See you later." With that, the blue speedster ran down the hills while Tails went the other way. Unbeknownst to him, inside his body, cells were churning. Something was growing inside of him, but he did not know it...yet.

...

When Tails got home, he put on some hot tea, and sat on the couch. Then, he felt something beneath his left glove.

_Odd_, he thought, _did a pebble get in there without my knowledge?_ Tails took his glove off, but didn't find a pebble. What he did find was more horrifying than that. The fur on his hand had grown a large, greenish-blackish spot, and was quickly growing and spreading. He screamed in pain and horror! He quickly grabbed the phone, and dialed the emergency number. As soon as he finished explaining, he heard sirens outside. He hung up the phone, and went to the hospital with the paramedics. All the while, someone was following them. A black and ruby hedgehog with blood-red eyes followed the ambulance at a safe distance. He seemed interested in what was going on. For what reason, though, he could not explain. As soon as they reached the hospital, Tails was immediately on a stretcher, and taken to the emergency room. Shadow followed at a close distance. _Is Miles hurt? What happened? I MUST know_, he thought.

…

As soon as they got wind of what had happened, Sonic and Amy ran to the hospital, where they found someone they least expected waiting for them.

"Shadow? What are you doing here?" asked Amy.

Shadow glanced at her. "I'm wondering the same thing," he admitted. "I saw the ambulance coming to pick up Tails, and thought I'd come check it out," he explained.

A doctor came out of the room Tails was in. Sonic, Amy, and Shadow rushed up to him.

"How is he?" asked Amy, a look of true concern on her face.

The doctor shook his head. "He's stable, but... he wants to tell you himself. He's awake, but I must warn you, it's dark in there. Your eyes will adjust. Trust me when I say it's better this way," he said before walking away.

Sonic, Amy, and Shadow looked at each other with great unease, before Sonic swallowed his pride and opened the door. There, he saw Tails, his buddy, laying in the hospital bed, glancing out the window. To be more accurate, he was glaring out the window. His left arm and some of his chest had turned green, and his face was growing something resembling mold. Sonic couldn't help but feel disgusted and sorry for his little brother. Slowly, he walked into the room and said, "Hi, Tails."

In reply, Tails turned his damaged face towards Sonic. "Hi, Sonic. I'm sorry you had to see me like this."

Sonic pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed. "Never think that, little guy! Remember that I still need you here."

"That's something I wanted to talk to you about. Sonic," Tails turned his face back towards the window, "I caught a disease that slowly kills. I don't know how I managed to get it, but I did, and now...I'm dying."

Sonic couldn't believe his ears! Tails caught a disease that could kill?!

"The doctors say that there's no known cure at this point, and I only have a short time to live..." said Tails.

Amy and Sonic began to cry while Shadow looked out the window, afraid to make eye contact. It just wasn't fair! Tails was only a kid! He had had a lot of terrible things happen to him, between his parents dying and having to kill Cosmo, a young plant-girl who Tails had developed quite a crush on, in order to save the universe, Tails had always gotten a pretty bad hand. But this... was too much.

"Hey... don't cry guys," said Tails, his comforting smile marred by his disfiguration.

"How long?" asked Shadow, still not making eye contact.

Tails sighed. "They told me about three months. I get discharged from the hospital in about a week. I have to come back every week to see how much the disease has progressed," he explained.

"Then in that case... we'd better make it the best three months of your life," said Sonic, trying to keep his voice steady. Amy couldn't speak because her head was buried in Sonic's shoulder, still crying.

Shadow turned to Sonic, a hint of outrage flaring in his fiery eyes, "I can't stand hearing you say that! You're a great hero, so do something!" Shadow pulled Sonic out of the chair in fury and looked at him dead in the eyes. "And if you won't do anything to save an innocent life, then **I **will! I am the ultimate life form, and I will not stand to see innocents be killed by ANYTHING! Do you hear me!?" With that, he dropped Sonic, and left the medical center by way of Chaos Control.

"Yeesh. What was that about?" said Sonic. A tear-stained Amy could only shrug as she wiped her nose.

A doctor entered the room. "Sorry, but I have to ask you guys to scoot," he said.

"Okay. See you, Tails. Hang in there, okay?" said Sonic with a sniffle. With that, he and Amy left.

"You have nice friends," said the doctor.

"My best friends in the world," said Tails, closing his eyes. "I'd give my life for them."

…

Shadow looked on at the setting sun. It just wasn't fair that an innocent life had to leave to the other side so quickly. He wanted to do something, but he just couldn't think of anything. Clenching his fists and teeth in anguish, he tried fighting back the wave of sorrow that threatened to overwhelm him. He remembered the little fox cub in his workshop, always working on his plane. Even though he'd be doing it again for three months, they'd never see him again after that. Shadow dropped to his knees, and gave out a cry of anger and frustration. He'd failed Maria's promise. He had failed his friends, his hopes, and he had failed Tails. He pounded the ground, cursing the life that was given to him. The night fell, and then he teleported home to calm down, and think of something to do to save the kitsune's life.

…

**(Manias: Well, I think that went pretty well. So, when's the next chapter?**

**Gametime: Well, I'm not quite sure. But, I'll get around to it as soon as I can.**

**Manias: Well, we'd better get-a going. **

**Gametime: Agreed. Stay Tuned!)**


End file.
